Players no longer need to discover Cataclysm dungeon entrances in order to access them via the Dungeon Finder.

These changes will probably cause a lot of "omg catering to casuals lol" forum rage, but for those of us who like conveniences rather than feeling as though we constantly need to be challenged (such as by having to fly ALL THE WAY to a dungeon entrance to "discover it"), they're definitely welcome changes! Yeah, I get it, it makes things easier but c'mon, get real - it wasn't exactly some huge challenge or marvelous feat in the first place. I haven't even wanted to level my warrior (for whom I wanted to use the Dungeon Finder to victory) just because I don't feel like going to discover all of the dungeons. The Justice Point change should also allow players to get geared up for Heroics more efficiently without having to grind the same dungeon over and over for that one item that never drops (we've all been there). What do you guys think?

Be sure to check out our PTR site and its Latest Additions for all the most recent PTR data, and find the complete patch notes at:

Blade Flurry is now a toggle that can be turned off by pressing the button again. In addition, this ability no longer has a fixed duration, but will go on cooldown for 10 seconds after being canceled (similar to Stealth). In addition, Blade Flurry now reduces energy generation by 30% while active, up from 20%.

Items

Set Bonuses

The PvP Balance druid 4-piece set bonus effect has been increased to 20 Solar Energy and 13 Lunar Energy, up from 5 and 13. The effect will also now be more intelligent at choosing whether to give the druid Lunar or Solar Energy (it checks the Balance Power to determine which to give depending on which energy is higher at the time).

Comment by darth603

Comment by Treskol

Comment by Hakunamatata

on 2011-01-24T15:16:49-06:00

Sigh. This is becomming a casual walk in the park...

Comment by CodisJ1286

on 2011-01-24T15:18:41-06:00

I love the note about grinding instances for that *one item*. I've noticed there's a common theme in the Cata gearing where there really are only a few best in slot drops, the instances aren't full of gear.

I actually had a hard time shifting from 85 Druid tanking to healing, because for my high 85 quests I had selected all tanking items. A few of those quests had items that were the best available for healing, and would have nicely rounded out the slots that I'm still rocking greens (ugh) in.

Comment by Miyari

Probably so that players would actually have to be responsible for dispelling buffs off bosses and such, not pet AI.

Comment by lordlundar

on 2011-01-24T15:25:05-06:00

Players no longer need to discover Cataclysm dungeon entrances in order to access them via the Dungeon Finder.

Not so thrilled about this. The whole point of it was so that people know where the entrance was when they died (which was a prevalent issue with the ICC 5 mans for a long time). Removing it seems odd to me.

Comment by Interest

on 2011-01-24T15:31:30-06:00

* Level-85 dungeon bosses in Lost City of the Tol'vir, Grim Batol, and Halls of Origination now drop 30 Justice Points each when killed. * The daily Random Dungeon reward on normal difficulty has been increased to 140 Justice Points, up from 70. * Players no longer need to discover Cataclysm dungeon entrances in order to access them via the Dungeon Finder.

1. YES!

2. YES!.

3. That's alright. It was getting to be a pain to have to do BRC over and over because no one discovered TotT.

Not so thrilled about this. The whole point of it was so that people know where the entrance was when they died (which was a prevalent issue with the ICC 5 mans for a long time). Removing it seems odd to me.

While I agree wholeheartedly, stuff like the Throne of the Tide's entrance (and ugh Stonecore) being quite difficult to reach made them a dungeon not worth going to while leveling up (and you don't need to discover entrances for Heroic versions of the dungeons, btw)

Moonkin Form now grants 15% damage reduction instead of increased armor. In addition, shapeshifting in or out of this form now breaks roots. Note this is not stated in the tooltip.

Lol, directed nerf at Feral. Lol.

Aura Mastery: This ability no longer increases the benefit granted by Crusader Aura.

Players should now always receive 6 daily quests in Tol Barad Peninsula as intended, rather than sometimes only getting 5.

Thank you Blizzard.

Comment by Fjh13

on 2011-01-24T15:34:40-06:00

Players no longer need to discover Cataclysm dungeon entrances in order to access them via the Dungeon Finder.

Not so thrilled about this. The whole point of it was so that people know where the entrance was when they died (which was a prevalent issue with the ICC 5 mans for a long time). Removing it seems odd to me.

You do bring up a relevant point, but from what I've seen, Blizz has already put graveyards super close to instances in Cata, thus making that mechanic kinda superfluous. This is just a nice change for those people who want to do dungeon leveling or are leveling a second toon to 85, and just don't want to have to fly around a bunch again. Also, I did think that normals dropped subpar amounts of JP, so that change was necessary as well, because getting geared for heroics personally took me forever because drops weren't being nice and I didn't have the JP for gear. Just my thoughts.

Comment by Pwntiff

on 2011-01-24T15:39:02-06:00

In case anyone's curious about the JP changes, at 85 your random normal will award, on average, 230 JP the first time you do it and 90 JP every time after that.

Your random Heroic will award, on average, 396 2/3 JP every time after your VP run.

Also, since the three normals that grant JP, grant it at 3/7 the rate of Heroic, you would need to be able to clear them in 3/7 the time in order to make it more beneficial to farm the normals.

If you can clear the Heroic in 60min, you need to be able to clear the normal in less than 26min. If you can clear the Heroic in 30min, you need to be able to clear the normal in less than 13min.

Comment by lordlundar

on 2011-01-24T15:50:53-06:00

Not so thrilled about this. The whole point of it was so that people know where the entrance was when they died (which was a prevalent issue with the ICC 5 mans for a long time). Removing it seems odd to me.

While I agree wholeheartedly, stuff like the Throne of the Tide's entrance (and ugh Stonecore) being quite difficult to reach made them a dungeon not worth going to while leveling up (and you don't need to discover entrances for Heroic versions of the dungeons, btw)

Thrones I'll grant you, as that can be a pain to get to even if you know it's location and I haven't seen if it's phased before the battle so I can't comment on that, but unless you've never been in deepholm, I can't understand stonecore as an argument. Of anything, I'd see it as the defining example for needing to find the entrance.

Comment by Interest

on 2011-01-24T16:02:45-06:00

Not so thrilled about this. The whole point of it was so that people know where the entrance was when they died (which was a prevalent issue with the ICC 5 mans for a long time). Removing it seems odd to me.

While I agree wholeheartedly, stuff like the Throne of the Tide's entrance (and ugh Stonecore) being quite difficult to reach made them a dungeon not worth going to while leveling up (and you don't need to discover entrances for Heroic versions of the dungeons, btw)

Thrones I'll grant you, as that can be a pain to get to even if you know it's location and I haven't seen if it's phased before the battle so I can't comment on that, but unless you've never been in deepholm, I can't understand stonecore as an argument. Of anything, I'd see it as the defining example for needing to find the entrance.You should see my general chat. I stopped doing Therazane dailies because half the questions asked there at the very least were "Where is Stonecore?"

Comment by Vaeku

on 2011-01-24T16:04:37-06:00

Players no longer need to discover Cataclysm dungeon entrances in order to access them via the Dungeon Finder.

Not so thrilled about this. The whole point of it was so that people know where the entrance was when they died (which was a prevalent issue with the ICC 5 mans for a long time). Removing it seems odd to me.

For Cata instances it's not even needed because most of the graveyards are really close. The only ones I know of that aren't close are Lost City and HoO (and maybe BRC?).

Comment by Miyari

on 2011-01-24T16:07:01-06:00

Players no longer need to discover Cataclysm dungeon entrances in order to access them via the Dungeon Finder.

Not so thrilled about this. The whole point of it was so that people know where the entrance was when they died (which was a prevalent issue with the ICC 5 mans for a long time). Removing it seems odd to me.

I think it was less this and more that they wanted to force people to at least try to experience the content before just steamrolling to 85 in the Dungeon Finder. You end up screwing yourself over anyway, because if you hit 85 that way you're missing out on necessary reps and can't even get some tabards until you get your butt out to the Cataclysm zones and quest!

Comment by Lolus

on 2011-01-24T16:10:44-06:00

Next patch you get 10 JPs when you login :)

Well, seems they want to boost people for HCs but pretty please, send them an email with CC, loot and aggro basics

Regarding holy paladins, I feel for you, you shouldn't have to pay a monthly fee to play a subclass that Blizzard hates since WoW launched

Comment by lankybrit

on 2011-01-24T16:12:59-06:00

I don't think the JP increase is such a big deal. You still have a 4000 cap, and they only buy you 346 gear. It makes it easier to get Heirloom gear for your alts, which everyone was complaining about anyway. I got 2200 JPs and looked for what I could get for them and couldn't get anything better than things I already had, or were about to get through rep. So, I bought another Heirloom item for my Goblin.

Cheers.

Comment by Lolus

on 2011-01-24T16:22:00-06:00

I don't have problems with more JPs either, I only bought 2 items which I replaced in 2 days, now I have 4000 which I will never spend, specially not on the new ridiculous things you can buy after patch

Comment by HikariOblivion

on 2011-01-24T16:29:48-06:00

Good. More Justice Points to those who can use them.

Comment by Kruga

on 2011-01-24T16:41:30-06:00

Healing Rain now has a 40-yard radius, up from 30, to be consistent with other shaman heals.

I hope they mean range and not radius. But a 40-yard radius AoE heal would but fun :)

Comment by Roackprime

on 2011-01-24T16:53:29-06:00

For those of us that "dabble" in PvP the JP uptick will be nice. Already BIS at 346 for both main and offspec. This will make buying entry level PvP gear fast enough to get back into that part of the game.